How can you resist the temptations of great yummy food during the Chinese Lunar New Year period?! I am sure you have already invited family and friends to your place for new year visiting and preparing foods for this festive season?

Besides the usual snacks like Bak Kwa, prawn rolls and cookies, what do you usually have for your meals during this period? Many dishes have meanings and it is considered auspicious to have during the Lunar New year. Well dishes like a whole fish, longevity noodles, dumplings, rice cakes etc are consider a must have during such an occasion. In Singapore we might not have too much of a restrictions for our Lunar New year dishes but here at iEatTravel, let me share with you what I had and I consider them auspicious as well.

The reunion dinner is an annual feast when family members reaffirm the love and respect that bind them together as a unit. It is known as 團圓 (also known as 圍爐 meaning "gathering around the family hearth"). Every family member is expected to do his best to return to the family home for the dinner. Traditionally, all sons return to their parental homes for the occasion. Married daughters share the tables of their husband's families. For this meal, the best food is served - and in abundance too.

​This is regardless of whether the family is rich or poor, for the Chinese believe that having plenty of food during this meal would bring the family great material wealth in the new year. Steamboat is a great choice for many families and there is a huge menu of ingredients and throughout the years, we have evolved to different varieties of soup base, adding in bbq style, from the typical inexpensive to the extravagant items that you can think of. Easy to prepare and a great way to gather together for a good hearty meal.

A CNY favourite in Singapore, this dish is made up of strips of raw fish mixed with vegetables, sauces, and other condiments such as peanut crumbs and fried crisps. It is commonly known as raw fish salad 鱼生:, which sounds like an increase in abundance 余升 when pronounced in Chinese. This is the scary part and if you ask me, I wouldn't wanna have one at my place as my friends likes to toss it high and messy! It is also said that the higher you toss the salad, the better luck you will have the for coming year! Come Huat Huat ah

I love day 2 of the Lunar New Year too as my aunt (the best chef in AMK and some say the whole of north Singapore), a homemaker, whips up a fantastic meal every single year! Both me and my brother loves her cooking so much so that we would spend hours sitting, hogging the space and enjoy her cooking!

​From five spiced prawn rolls (slightly from the traditional ones but superbly yummy), Braised pork belly and boy oh boy this is a must for many Hokkien families and my brother’s ultimate favourite! Mixed vegetarian dish (all vegetables) with bamboo shoots or lotus roots. Chinese vermicelli fried with pork belly is heavenly, how about curry chicken and roasted duck meat one of the few dishes which is always available!

So how to lose weight during these period?! :P​There is so so many ways to prepare these yummilicious foods and some even cater buffet which save all the hassle especially when they have shortage of time and manpower. So so many food to share and I hope this can give you some ideas to prepare for this year’s CNY dishes.

Try and cook some and enjoy the coming season with lots of fun and laughter and I hereby wishes you all with great health and happiness of the monkey, continue to enjoy great food and a Happy Monkey Lunar New Year!

Rustic and charming, the heritage Phoenix Park is built with solid timber floorboards and nestled in the quiet and green Tanglin enclave. The indoor dining area seats up to 60 guests while our alfresco area can accommodate up to 70 people. If you’re looking for a corporate luncheon or a weekend lazy brunch or how about an evening dinner here at the Phoenix Park outlet. You can be sure you will have a great meal and let me share with you s few of their brunch dishes.

Their egg set selection is one of the favourite with eggs, sausage, baked bean, baked tomatoes, bacon strips, my favourite mushrooms and focaccia toasts. this is one of my favourite when I’m here for brunch and if they can provide me with some garlic herbs spread for my toasts, that will make me crave for it even more lol. Crispy bacon strips salted slightly to give taste and I love the crisp bite to it.

​But if you're a carnivore, you can opt for the chicken steak added in. I don't really like the texture of the meat as its dry though grilled nicely and lack of a good punchy sauce on it, I do prefer the roasted potatoes and sauerkraut . If you’re the opposite version of that, you can go for the garden salad choice. with goat cheese (yummy!), basil, avocado and garden salad.

Do share with me their lunch or dinner selection and let me know what is worth trying!. Oh on a side note, their nachos are prepared upon order and remember to ask for more of the dip!

Once again I’m back to Joo Bar to try out some other eats and their drinks, well actually their draft Makgeolli (a lightly sweet alcoholic beverage native to Korea, made from wheat or rice and has a milky white colour and has about 6-8% alcohol volume).

My friend and I talked about it when I recommend this place to her and she told me that she had been here a couple of times and here I am back here again. Previously I was here for lunch but the evening crowd is much more, even on a weekday evening. Made up of mainly ladies, this is quite a place for small chats and small bites if you and a few friends would like to gather and have some drinks after a busy day at work.

We start off with a Makgeolli sampler set with five tasty flavours: original, yuzu, passionfruit, blood orange and lychee. The ice slush makes it chilling and easy to drink and if you fancy some fruity flavours, this is the one for you! The appetisers (rather pathetic and I didn't remember I had any appetisers the first time I was here for lunch) nothing great but its a good snack while waiting for my friend. Water (iced or warm) are chargeable as well

Baby paper eel is a good start before you have your mains or good as finger food. Slightly salty but it actually kick starts my stomach for my dinner coming up. Add some lime juice to give it a kick in the taste and this is love by many customers here. Next we have Joo Bossam, a small platter of boiled pork belly, in house spicy radish salad and also yucha kimchi. Spicy refreshing and yummy a mixture of textures and taste and great to pair it with Makgeolli.

Seafood pancake, a common dish when you go to any Korean restaurants, but I feel you can give this a miss. Because the pancake itself wasn't done properly as the flour still kind of raw to me. But they are quite generous with the ingredients. you can find mussels, clams, squid, shrimps and vegetables in it. My friends saw what I had posted previously and the grilled squid caught their attention. consists in their grill. Tender and juicy meat which I highly recommends it to you all to order. And lastly, army stew. Typical of Korean cuisine but a good one indeed at Joo Bar. Don't expect it to be a big stew ya (since all their dishes are kind of bite sized and not enough for a man’s stomach lol) small but the soup packs a good flavour. Consists of kimchi, sausage, luncheon meat, baked beans, ham and ramyeon (instant noodle). To end it off before we go, some more draft Makgeolli for a great dinner company!

Grab a few friends and do hang out here at Joo Bar for some drinks and bites. Do share with me if you encounter any more yummy dishes or drinks and I might be going back the 3rd time! :)

TungLok (Tong Le 同乐) has been quite a household name for many where they are known for their wonderful seafood, vegetarian and traditional Chinese cuisines. They have won numerous awards and has since spread their specialty to other Asian regions like Indonesia, Japan, Chian and Vietnam.

Looking at the formula on this blog’s title, many would have known about this. TungLok Group collaborated with Beijing’s XiHe Group to form TungLok XiHe Restaurant which dedicates to authentic Chinese cuisines and of course, the signature Peking Duck. The duck they use here has a twist, it’s flown from Ireland's Silver Hill Farm, also known as the London Duck, where the ducks are just merely 42 days old. The soft tender and juicy duck meat not forgetting the crispy skin which crackles as you pop them into your mouth.

The process of making this wonderful dish takes about 3 full days from preparation to roasting. a first in Singapore and its definitely one of the best Peking duck you’ll find here on this sunny island. The duck is served wth 8 condiments to be wrapped in the paper thin crepe.

​Of course you can eat it on its own, your Singaporean way but doing it the Peking style has its own pleasures too. Hoisin sauce, cucumbers, spring onions, blueberry sauce, the traditional plum sauce and a surprise popping candy which crackles in the mouth something worth trying

They have many other yummy dishes to choose from and one of them that you can consider having is the succulent wagyu beef cubes fried with vegetables and in truffle oil. fresh greens and almond flakes adds texture to this beautiful dish. Their popular handmade braised tofu is definitely worth a try. If you have some spare cash, you can order their fresh steamed Soon Hock (Marble goby fish) SiChuan style, heavenly! I can eat this everyday (ya~ unless I can afford them on a daily basis haha).

Do drop by and try out TungLok’s Peking Duck and many other yummilicious chinese cuisines! Do share with me your favourites and how you find their famous Peking duck!